A good week for Hollie Davidson
Female rugby referee Hollie Davidson is on course to take the whistle in the next men’s Rugby World Cup, set for Australia in 2027 — the first woman to do so. Davidson, 33, has refereed two Springboks matches — against Portugal in 2024 and against Italy this year, and done it without the usual controversy of adjudication in rugby Tests. Davidson, of Scotland, refereed the recent women’s World Cup final between England and Canada in which the former prevailed. She was mentored by former South African referee Tappe Henning, who was Scotland’s referee manager between 2013 and 2021.
A bad week for Julius Malema
For Julius Malema, it must have been the longest eight hours of his life. He was forced to sit quietly in the East London magistrate’s court while presiding officer Twanet Olivier meticulously read out her finding to ensure context of the case. She found him guilty on five charges related to firearm offences, one of which was firing a rifle in a crowded Mdantsane stadium. It was Malema’s second conviction in two months. In August he was found guilty of hate speech after comments on the fracas between EFF supporters and opponents at the Brackenfell High School in the Western Cape. Malema said he would appeal the firearms verdict, blaming his lawyer for the conviction: “You need lawyers who are not scared of the system.”
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